1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interactive entertainment device that utilizes modulated droplets of water to produce musical or other sounds through the impaction of specially modulated streams of water on a resonating membrane disposed in the water stream.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since ancient times the combined movement and sound of water has been appreciated as an aesthetic element in fountains and in other applications both utilitarian and recreational. In the renaissance architects and inventors devised a variety of hydraulic means for the production of both pitched and random sounds to enhance the enjoyment of fountains.
In recent decades a number of entertaining arrangements have been constructed to coordinate the movements of water with live or reproduced music. Przystawik (U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,204) describes a musical display fountain that coordinates the movements of water jets in synchronism with colored lights and music via a motor and mechanical linkages. It is not claimed, however, that the music is produced by the water or by the movement of water. Kawamura and others (U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,861) describe a keyboard-like device to control water fountains in synchronism with music via relays and valves. The keyboard permits a human player to accompany a musical performance with prearranged settings of water jets and colored lights. Kawamura makes no claim that the sound is made by the water or the movement of water. Alba (U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,387) describes a cybernetic fountain apparatus that utilizes a microprocessor to coordinate the movements and height of water jets, colored lights and music. The effects produced by the water and light display may be controlled automatically by music fed into the computer, but no claim is made that the water plays any part in reproducing or conducting the sounds of the music.
In each of these systems the sound is presumably reproduced by conventional electronic transducers such as loudspeakers. A disadvantage of this arrangement is that loudspeakers generally must be protected from moisture and consequently must be positioned at some distance from the fountain or other water source. Thus the visual appreciation of the movement of water and the emanation of the sound are separated so that the effect generated by these systems tends to be appropriate only for larger spectacles in which the audience is distanced from the display. Commingling of the water movements and the sound must be accomplished in the mind of the listener. Interaction of the listener with the water and sound is generally precluded. Moreover, none of these devices utilize the water as a primary sound generating medium.
Water has been used as the motive force for activating specific sound producing devices. A musical lawn-sprinkler described by Ochs (U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,026) employs water pressure to move a wheel provided with wire spokes that strike stationary steel tines to create sounds. Here the water provides a source of power to drive a sound producing mechanism, but the water plays no direct part in creating or conducting the sound vibrations. Likewise the musical water faucet of McFarland (U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,326) uses water as the motive force to turn the mechanism of a music box. Again the device does not modulate the water to create the sounds. A related apparatus for making precipitation audible (U.S. Pat. 4,949,385) uses the power of falling rain to ring a set of one or more chimes, but does not use the water itself to create or conduct the sound.
The use of water or other fluids to create or conduct sounds has been proposed in a variety of devices.
A water bed that uses the water to conduct sound from conventional loudspeakers to the user's ear is described by Smith (U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,816). This device employs water only as a conductor of sound that has been conventionally reproduced and does not employ the water itself in creating the sound. Moreover the water is kept relatively motionless and contained within the waterbed and does not contribute visually or refreshingly to any entertainment performed upon the bed.
Prentiss (U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,089) describes a device for producing sounds using the dripping of water into resonant tubes. This has the disadvantage of producing only short percussive sounds and is limited to the set of fixed pitches to which the pipes are tuned.
Audio transducers that use a compressed fluid to create sounds have been proposed. Asami and others (U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,274) describe a hydrostatic speaker that uses a compressed fluid to move a fixed membrane that couples audio signals to the air. The liquid in this device is kept contained within the system, however, and affords no opportunity for water play or visual entertainment. The effect of vibration upon the membrane is caused by the variations in the pressure of the liquid and not by a stream of water. Moreover the device is intended only for the production of super low frequency audio signals. Doi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,095) describes a fluid flow control speaker system. The fluid mentioned is air and no mention is made of other fluids such as water, nor of how vibrations from other fluids might be coupled to the air to make the sounds audible. In addition the crux of this patent is direct PCM digital control of sound transduction and thus it uses a plurality of flow pipes to reconstruct a single sound. A patent by Almasy (U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,937) describes a hydrodynamically pressure regulated loudspeaker, but the fluid described in this device only serves as a portion of impermeable boundary to contain an air mass. On the other hand the present device can reproduce sounds recorded on a CD or other medium, and the position can be easily adjusted "interactively" by giving the listener a moveable umbrella which serves as the membrane upon which the water stream impacts to generate variable sound.
None of the prior art creates a continuous and variable variety of sounds that are produced by means of the water itself None of the known prior art systems provide for interactive or immersive participation by the audience. None of the prior art devices can reproduce recorded sound with interactive adjustment by the listener. Water play has been a source of entertainment for countless centuries and the integration of musical, rhythmic or other sounds into this play provides enhanced opportunities for entertainment absent from prior art devices.